LL-L "Scots" 2002.03.11 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 11.MAR.2002 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: "Ian James Parsley" <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Scots" 2002.03.11 (01) [E]

Ron,

That is an important point you raise.

When I raised the issue 18 months ago I talked of
three distinct groups: linguistic academics, activists
and speakers. In Ulster at least, there is very seldom
any overlap.

Since I don't fit particularly neatly into any of
those groups, being more a 'linguistic professional'
and I daresay an 'enthusiast', I can maybe speak about
my experiences of the other three.

Linguistic academics here are, understandably, quite
protective of the issue, believing that since it is
their life's work they automatically know more about
it than anyone else. In some ways, this is of course
true. Nonetheless they can be frustrating - some have
never heard Ulster Scots spoken yet see fit to comment
on it. Many people find this bewildering since Belfast
and Derry, where most of them are based, are only a
few miles from broad Scots-speaking areas.

Activists are those responsible for the awareness
raising, and get credit in some ways for advancing the
cause in the public eye. Some are unbelievably
hard-working and there is much to commend this.
However, by 'piggybacking' on Irish and other minority
languages, Ulster Scots has actually advanced publicly
very quickly, to a stage where it is time for those
with real expertise to take over the reigns. This is
usually not a problem as one generation takes over
from another, but with Ulster Scots it has all
happened faster. Again understandably, many of the
activists are unwilling to let go of what they see as
'their baby'. This is human nature, and they can't
really be blamed for it. However they do themselves no
favours by making outrageous claims about the language
and its speakers, and by stopping others with much to
contribute from entering the debate (and indeed, as I
have illustrated, by being utterly insulting on
occasions).

Speakers are generally left out of the debate
altogether. Ulster Scots speakers generally do not
like fuss, but they certainly resent being used for
what they would see as either political or
money-grabbing purposes. But it is true that some of
what they say does not add up. The typical line seems
to be that we should only use words that are currently
in use. But it follows that as the areas of life where
Ulster Scots is used (agriculture, weaving etc) go
into decline, so do the words and idiom used to
describe them - in other words, if no effort is made
to 'update' Ulster Scots it will simply disappear with
the traditional way of life it used to describe. So
they can't have it both ways - they will have to work
with the academics and activists for the language to
survive. On the other hand, it is for the speakers,
and no one else, to decide whether the language's
survival is truly a priority.

I've now added 'linguistic professional' as a fourth
group, not least because they form a body of opinion
that is often extremely frustrated with all the other
three!

All the best,

=====
------------------
Ian James Parsley
www.geocities.com/parsleyij
+44 (0)77 2095 1736
JOY - "Jesus, Others, You"

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